Auction Industry

Royal Sculpture Crowned at Auction: A Virgin and King

By La Gazette Drouot

Published on Feb 10, 25

A Queen of Heaven from Limoges, in the elegant 1200s style, faced the bust of Louis XIII, king on earth by divine will. A perfect pairing!

Limoges, Grandmont Abbey workshop? (Haute-Vienne), c. 1220-1250. Virgin of the Annunciation in repoussé copper, engraved and gilded, with small turquoise gemstones (two in glass, one missing), rock crystal, on a socle, h. 28.7 cm/11.29 in.
Result: €195,000 — **Limoges, Grandmont Abbey workshop?** (Haute-Vienne), c. 1220-1250. *Virgin of the Annunciation* in repoussé copper, engraved and gilded, with small turquoise gemstones (two in glass, one missing), rock crystal, on a socle, h. 28.7 cm/11.29 in.
Result: €195,000

An applique figure designed for an important liturgical object, a copper Virgin of the Annunciation produced in Limoges fetched €195,000. Although executed in the medieval bastion of enamel, the Mother of Jesus is not enameled, and is enhanced only by delicate cabochons. Her elegance was all the more striking, perfectly expressing the great elegance of the “1200 style” with her lanky body, her restrained gestures — the left hand raised in a withdrawn attitude — the beauty of her face with its simply engraved pupils and its spoon-shaped folds. This work, which appeared on the Paris art market in the 1950s and had remained safe from covetous buyers ever since, was well surrounded in the afternoon auction devoted to the Late Middle Ages. First up was a slightly domed circular plate (diam. approx. 21 cm/8.26 in) in painted enamel enhanced with gold, depicting Charlemagne, a work from Limoges dating around 1540 belonging to the “Preux” series. The emperor fetched €65,000, six times his estimate. The object was reproduced in La Gazette no. 3, while a most interesting bas-relief from pre-Viking Sweden was also reproduced in the same magazine. The small square piece made of metamorphic stone (6.8 x 6.9 x 1 cm/2.67 x 2.71 x 0.39 in), carved with an armed man between two standing bears, is one of the few remaining examples from which molds were produced, used to make bronze ornaments for the helmets of Vendel Period warriors (c 540-793). He was confident of obtaining €23,400. Then, after a leap of more than ten centuries, the image of a young, combative Louis XIII garnered €37,050. Made in marble and attributed to the Parisian sculptor Guillaume Berthelot, the bust shows the king without a goatee or moustache, and wearing wavy locks, which allows it to be dated before the siege of La Rochelle and the portrait by Philippe de Champaigne. It’s reasonable to imagine that the statue was made around 1622 and glorifies the sovereign, only 21 years old, victorious after his campaign that year against the Protestants in Languedoc. This regal effigy stood on the south facade of the Château d’Écharbot — as evidenced by a 1901 postcard — an Anjou edifice built in the early 17^th century before being remodeled.